In the preceding chapter it was shown that the concept of righteousness does not play a crucial role in Matthew's self-understanding as a follower of Jesus. While the Gospel of Matthew clearly indicates that salvation is the gift of God, righteousness is seen only as the demand of God made upon man. Those who are properly religious in a Christian sense are not ‘the righteous’. They are ‘disciples’. The essence of discipleship is not expressed as ‘righteousness’ but as ‘doing the will of God’.

Having seen the limitations of the use of the concept of righteousness in the Gospel of Matthew, let us now consider the positive side of its use more closely. Why in fact does Matthew make use of the concept of righteousness in his gospel?

It is the conclusion of this study that the concept of righteousness is used in the Gospel of Matthew to provide a point of contact between the religious understanding of first-century Palestinian Jews and the teaching of Jesus as Matthew understood it. In other words, the concept of righteousness is used as a teaching principle leading from the known (contemporary Jewish teaching) to the unknown (the teaching of Jesus).

The concept of righteousness thus is cast in the role of a provisional concept. As a provisional concept it can only facilitate the bridging of a gap in understanding. It is the nature of such a provisional concept that it can never fully express the view to which it points.